


our dreams will come true (i promise you)

by nerdytardis



Category: Bill & Ted (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hopeful Ending, Love Confessions, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-28 17:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15054605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdytardis/pseuds/nerdytardis
Summary: When Ted's dad finds out about his secret relationship with Bill, things take a bogus turn.Or, Bill tries to reassure Ted, even though he is also not doing so hot right now.





	our dreams will come true (i promise you)

**Author's Note:**

> i can't believe i wrote bill/ted angst......who am i....
> 
> the title is from "In Time" by Robbie Robb, which is the song that's playing when they visit the future in the first movie  
> i wrote this really fast, so sorry for any major mistakes

Ted had been in his room for so long now that it was starting to feel like he was just never going to leave; like he would die here, alone, and surrounded by dirty clothes and second-hand records.

Lying on his side, he stared at the Val Halen poster next to his bed and let out a long, tired sigh.  He still couldn't figure out _why_ he was still so tired; all he’d done for the past few days was lay around his room.  There was just this deep fatigue that had settled into his bones and wouldn’t go away.

Through the door, Ted could still here his dad moving around in the kitchen, even though he was usually out of the house at this point.

If Ted was out there now, he would probably still be able to smell the cigarette smoke hanging around him.  There was no way that his dad hadn’t broken into the secret pack that he kept hidden behind some books on the shelf in the hallway.  It was reserved for times when his work got to be too much, or when he was upset with something his kids had done.  Every time Ted messed something up, the cigarette smell would always hang around the backyard for a day or two.  

Ted rolled over onto his back and pushed the bundle of covers off of his chest to get some fresh air.  It was clear, from the heavy silence hanging around the house, that Ted had messed up extra-bad this time. 

The front door finally slammed shut.  Ted let out a long breath and started counting to 100. 

He missed Bill; all this would be considerably less heinous if Bill was here.  But that wasn’t going to happen any time soon—not if his dad had anything to say about it. 

Once he reached 100, Mississippi and everything, Ted finished pulling himself free of his covers and walked over to his bedroom door.  After he pulled it open, he had to stop short because his brother was waiting for him in the hall.

“Is it true?” Deacon asked, looking up at him warily. 

“What?” Ted’s brow furrowed. 

“Are you…gay?” Deacon’s voice dropped on the word “gay” even though they were the only ones in the house at this point. 

Taken aback, Ted blinked down at his brother, then crossed his arms across his chest and tried to look serious.  “Why do you ask?”

Deacon’s brow furrowed in confusion, and Ted used the momentary lapse to push passed his brother.  He walked down the hall to the kitchen.  After getting himself a drink of water, he reached for the phone, already pulling off the hook and dialing half of Bill’s number before he realized Deacon had followed him into the kitchen.

Putting the phone back on its hook, Ted turned to his brother.  “Go away, Deacon.”

Deacon ignored this, and took up a spot on the counter, crossing his own arms and watching Ted expectantly.

Ted shook his head.  Everything was becoming so much more—everything.  Confusing, complicated, uncomfortable.  Even the idea of trying to get his brother to understand—whatever this was, made Ted’s head hurt and his hands get all clammy. 

“ _Deacon_.” Ted said, “I’m not going to talk to you about this right now.”

Finally, Deacon realized that this was a lost cause, and jumped off the counter with a dramatic sigh.  Ted watched him leave, until he paused at the door and turned around.

“Will you at least tell me if you kissed Bill?”

“No.” Ted went and pushed his brother the rest of the way out of the room and went back to the phone. 

“No, like you didn’t, or like—”

Ted grabbed the phone and carried it to the basement stairs, pulling as much of the cord with him as he could before he shut the door to block out Deacon and his questions. 

Finally, _finally,_ alone, he dialed Bill’s number again without thinking.  It had already rung a few times before he realized that Bill might not be the first to pick up.  Ted’s heart started beating a little faster with each ring.  He didn’t know what he would do if Missy or Bill’s dad answered. 

That was a whole other conversation, one that he didn’t have the energy to deal with right now. 

Someone picked up the line.  “Hello?”

Ted let out a grateful sigh; some of the weight that had been holding him down the past few days seemed to lift away at the sound of Bill’s voice.  “Dude.”

There was a little gasp on the other end of the line and Ted broke into the first grin in what felt like a long time.  He could just about picture Bill’s shocked face, all wide eyed and adorable. 

“Dude!” Bill said, “I was getting worried that your dad had sent you off to Alaska.”

“I still wouldn’t put it past him.” Ted said, leaning his head against the door behind him, “He’s got me practically on house arrest though, while he tries to figure out what to do with me.”

“Heinous.”

“Definitely.” Ted’s hair flopped around his ears a little as he nodded. 

“Does this mean—” Bill faltered for a moment, thinking over his words, “When will I get to see you again dude?”

Ted slid down the door until he was sitting on the top step of the basement stairs.  “I don’t know dude.”

On either end of the call, they both let out defeated sighs. 

“This is a most non-excellent turn of events.” Ted said, absently staring at the ceiling. 

“That is an understatement of the highest order my friend.”

They lapsed into silence.  It wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, that almost never happened with them, but the air was still thick with all the things that had happened, all the ways that their lives were changing. 

“Bill?”

“Yeah Ted?”

“I—” Ted started, then realized a simple ‘I miss you,’ wouldn’t do justice to the feeling resting in his chest right now.  Instead, he tried a different approach.  “You know that song ‘Is This Love?’”

“Of course, dude.  Whitesnake.”

“Yeah.” Ted said, ducking his head and fiddling with the phone cord with his free hand, “I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently.  It’s got some good lyrics.”

“I guess it does.” Bill said, trailing off a little at the end.  Ted waited, as Bill considered.  “Dude.  Is that—is that how you feel?”

Ted bit his lip and hugged himself with his free arm, “Yeah.  I think so.”  He shrugged a little, even though Bill couldn’t see it.  “Are you…cool with that?”

Bill paused again, taking a breath, before he dived back in.  “Of course.” His voice suddenly full of emotion, “That’s—I—You’re my best friend dude.”

Swallowing down the lump of emotion growing in his throat, Ted nodded and picked at an old stain on his sweat pants.  “Thanks man.”

They didn’t usually talk about stuff like this.  Sometimes, like when someone at school was an asshole, or when one of them was having a really bad day, they would hang out and reassure each other.  Recently, there would be cuddling too—an excellent addition in Ted’s opinion.  But they never talked about their _feelings._

That was a step too far towards—something he couldn’t quiet name but that hung, unspoken, between them when things got too emotional.  Something that was starting to hang between them right now. 

“I miss you so much dude.” Bill’s voice was strained. 

“Me too dude.” Ted said, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“I know,” Bill sniffled a little, “I guess I knew someone would find out eventually, but this is literally the worst ever.”

Tears, hot and uncomfortable, were itching at the back of Ted’s eyes, threatening to run free, “This is all my fault.”

“No dude, stop—”

“I ruined everything,” he rubbed at his eyes, trying to hold it all back. 

“Ted—”

“I’m so sorry.” Everything had been so _good_.  They might not have really had a way to label what was happening between them, but it didn’t matter.  They were having fun; they were happy. 

Now, all that was gone, and nothing was ever going to be the same.  He had mess it all up, just like he always did. 

“ _Ted_ ,” Bill finally managed to cut in, “You didn’t do anything wrong.  Your dad shouldn’t have been going through your stuff.”

Ted worried away at his lip with his teeth, hearing what Bill was saying without really taking it in. 

An entire stack of Polaroid photos.  Maybe his dad shouldn’t have looked at them, but they were all sitting there on Ted’s dresser, ready for him to find. 

Most of them were of their guitars and their epic garage-slash-studio and their band, but then there were the few he kept tucked in the back. 

The ones he snapped of Bill when he wasn’t paying any attention to him, when he was just looking cute or hot or when he was playing with the neighbor’s dog or whatever.  The photos where they’re kissing, where they’re curled up together, the ones that made him feel all giddy and warm every time he looked at them.  The ones his dad found. 

“Dude, are you still there?” Bill’s voice broke through his spiraling thoughts. 

“Yeah.” Ted managed.  He was starting to feel sick to his stomach from everything. 

Bill seemed to consider things for a second, or at least he stopped talking for a moment, before he said, “I’m going to come over.” 

“What?” Ted sat up, “If my dad finds you here—”

“You’re upset and I want to see you.” Bill insisted, “I’ll sneak out for a bit while your dad is at work and then sneak back.  Like we used to do when you got sick.”

“Dude you always totally got sick too.” As bad as he wanted to see his friend again, Ted couldn’t risk getting Bill into any more trouble than he already was.

“But it was also always worth it.” Bill said.  His mind was obviously set, already crafting a plan to get from his house to Ted’s, “I’ll see you in like, fifteen.”

The line went dead.  Ted listened to the hum of the dial tone for longer than normal, his brain catching up with his world.  It was most unusual for him and Bill to disagree, even a little, on anything, and it always left him reeling.

Finally standing up, Ted opened the basement door and went to put the phone back in its place.  Deacon was, thankfully, nowhere to be found.  Absently, Ted hoped that he had left to go to a friend’s house, but he wasn’t in a mood to search around and find out if his brother was still around.

Instead, he went back to his room and sat on his bed while he waited for Bill, his leg bouncing anxiously next to him.

After what felt like ages, but couldn’t have been anywhere near that long, there was a little tap at Ted’s window.  He was next to it in a blink, already undoing the latch and helping Bill climb over the windowsill before he really registered what was happening. 

Bill straightened up and for the first time in days they were standing next to each other.  A brief moment passed where they just looked at each other, wide-eyed. 

Then they were crashing together into a fierce hug.  Ted stumbled under the force of it, but ultimately stayed upright as they swayed back and forth in each other’s arms.  Ted buried his face into Bill’s shoulder, as Bill’s hands latched onto the back of his t-shirt. 

Of course Bill was right.  This was totally, _completely_ , worth it. 

Ted let out a breath he didn’t even realize he had been holding, and the tears he had been trying to contain all morning came back in full force, too strong for him to even fight.  Shuddering, he leaned into Bill even more as everything he had been holding in and thinking about and building up inside came crashing down. 

Bill’s own voice wavering as he murmured into Ted’s hair, “I’m here dude.  It’s okay.”  He held on to Ted as he quietly shook. 

It took a while, but eventually the tears came to a stop.  Ted, lightheaded from the crying, felt hollowed-out and even more exhausted then before.  But he was still holding onto Bill and Bill was still holding onto him, so it was okay. 

“Let’s sit down.” He said, mostly into Bill’s shirt. 

Bill sniffed back the last of his own tears and nodded.  They had to separate to find the pile of beanbags chairs and pillows in the corner, but as soon as Ted was sitting, Bill crawled up next to him and latched onto him again. 

Ted watched Bill settle down against his side, and noticed how red-rimmed Bill’s eyes were.  Wrapping his arms around his friend, Ted pulled him closer and rested his chin on Bill’s head. 

Together, they just breathed for a moment, taking a break to rest after the crush of all those emotions. 

Once his breathing had evened out enough, Ted rubbed his cheek against Bill’s curls and said, “How are you?”

Bill let out a messy snort, running the back of his hand across his nose, “Not gonna lie dude, I’m not great.”

“Have your parents said anything?”

“Missy's all sad about it; she keeps looking at me like I'm dying or something.  My dad tried to have this heart to heart with me once he got off the phone with your dad,” Bill said, as his fingers pressed into Ted’s back, “but now he’s just avoiding the subject.  I think he’s hoping I’ll grow out of it now that everything’s gone sideways.”

The words hung in the air.  Bill pulled Ted even closer. 

“What are we going to do Ted?”

“I don’t know.”

Ted wished he had more he could say, but he really didn’t know what would come next.  Everything, this whole relationship, had been uncharted territory from the beginning.  Things just kept happening, and the only real certainty was that Bill would always be there too. 

But would that still be true from now on?  What if his dad finally sent him to Alaska?  Or made it so he could never, ever see Bill again? 

Ted took one of Bill’s hands in his and intertwined their fingers together. 

“I meant what I said earlier,” Ted said, squeezing Bill’s hand, “With the song.”

Bill squeezed his hand right back.  “I know.” He looked up into Ted’s eyes, “Me too.”

Another lump started to form in Ted’s throat, but he was already all cried out.  There was nothing left.  Sensing this, Bill shifted a little and pressed a kiss to Ted’s cheek.

“We’ll figure it out dude.” Bill said.

“Really?”

“For sure.” Bill said, his smile still reassuring despite its watery quality, "Together."

“Together.” Ted repeated, squeezing Bill’s hand again.

“Forever.” Bill's gaze never left his.    

A memory flashed in Ted's mind, bringing the unexpected quirk of a smile to his lips.  He brought his free hand to his chest.  “ _Wyld Stallyns_ forever." 

Bill let out another messy, tired laugh, except that this time, he was actually smiling.  The sight brought a spark of warmth to Ted’s chest.

“Yeah dude.” Bill said, hugging Ted tight, “Exactly.”

**Author's Note:**

> ted confessing his love through a whitesnake song is like, the most 80s thing i've ever written lmao
> 
> thanks for reading!


End file.
